Umbilical truss.



No. 649,646. Patented May l5, i900. D. 8. PLUM.

UMBILICAL TRUSS.

(Application filed June 9, 1899.)

(No Model.)

THE Nonals Pain; ca PnoTo-umq, WASHWGYON, u. c,

NrTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID S. PLUM, OF EL DORADO, CALIFORNIA.

UMBILICAL TRUSS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 649,646, dated May 15, 1900.

Application filed June 9, 1899. fierlal No. 719,916- (No model.)

To (all w7t07n it 7mm concern:

Beitknown that I, DAVID S. PLUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at El Dorado, in the county of El Dcrado and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Umbilical Trusses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in umbilical trusses, and has for its object to produce such a truss of a simple and durable construction which will be effective for its purpose without liability of chafing the wearer or becoming displaced.

Owing to the tendency of the intestines of a newly-born infant to protrude through the umbilicus and form a hernia, it has become customary to bind the child about the waist for a short time until the parts have strengthened and are able to maintain their normal condition. This binding has usually been performed by means of a single bandage containing a poker-chip or other hard flat disk for a bearing-surface. This form of device is useful as long as the disk remains in place; but the tendency of the bandage to slip over the body during the movements of the child makes this almost impossible for any length of time and necessitates repeated adjusting, which is unpleasant to the child and nurse alike. I

It is one object of my invention to overcome this defect by securing a bearing disk or pad at the point of intersection of two crossed bands, which are adapted to pass around the body of the wearer and buckle in the back, the upper ends of the two bands being connected together and the lower ends being also connected together, thus forming a support for the pad, comprising two belts joined in the front and separated in the rear.

Another object of this invention is to form the bands of an elastic material, which will allow the truss to be tightened about the body to any desired pressure and at the same time will permit the free movement of the wearerwithout binding.

A still further object is to provide the buckle-ends of the bands with soft smooth facing-pads to prevent the chafing of the body by the connections.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the novel details of construction and combination of parts to be clearly described in the following specifica tion and fully set forth in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved umbilical truss; and Fig. 2 is a back view of a body, showing thetruss in position.

In the drawings,1 and 2 represent two bands of elastic fabric about equal in length and crossing each other at their middle points, where they are attached to a circular pad 3 of any suitable size and preferably covered by chamois-skin, canton-flannel, or other soft smooth material. Near each end of band 2 is secured a buckle 4, adapted to receive and engage one end of the band 1, and directly beneath the buckles 4, on the under side of the band 2, are attached rectangular facingpads 5, extending beyond the ends and sides of said band. These facing-pads 5 are composed of one or more thicknesses of chamois skin, canton-flannel, or other soft smooth material, which will be easy to the wearerand shield him against chafing by the buckles or band ends.

To apply the truss, the pad 3 is placed centrally over the navel and the upper ends of the bands 1 and 2 carried around the waist and fastened together. Then the lower ends are likewise engaged and the truss tightened to the desired degree by drawing in opposite directions on the two ends of band 1.

It will be noted that the feature of providing one band with both buckles not only has the very meritorious advantage of evenly spacing the two buckles on opposite sides of the spinal column instead of bunching them together on one side where they would be liable to pinch the flesh therebetween, but a much greater advantage rests in the fact that with this arrangement the tightening of the two bands is done simultaneously in opposite directions,producing an equal pressure on the two bands 1 and 2 at all times and insuring no movement of the pad 3 during the operation.

The tendency of the pad 3 to slip from position during the movements of the body is overcome by the double-belt arrangement, as an upward movement of the pad is prevented by the downwardly-slantin g belt and a downward movement is prevented by the upwardlyslanting belt.

It is obvious that my invention is not limited to the use of infants, but is adapted for adults as well, in cases of umbilical herniaor relaxed condition of the urnbilicus, and it is further obvious that it is not necessary to use the exact materials mentioned herein;

but Various changes of this character, such as on each end of one band adapted to engage the other band, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, a pair of bands crossing each other at an angle, a pad located at the intersection of the bands, and a buckle on each end of one band adapted to engage the other band, substan: tially as described.

3. In a device of the character described, a pair of bands crossing each other at an angle, a pad located at the intersection of the bands, a buckle on each end of one band adapted to engage one end of the other band, and a facing-pad secured on the under side of the band beneath each buckle and projecting beyond the sides and end of said band,

substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID S. PLUM. 'Witnesses:

LAURENCE FLEMING, DAVID E. HARDY. 

